Write2Market’s Melissa and Denise with 11Alive Donna Lowry, C5 Georgia Board Member Robert Farrar and C5 Georgia student Leah and her mother outside their home.
C5 Georgia is a 5-year leadership program for high-potential, under-resourced high school students. The program prepares these students for a life of leadership in college, career, life and ultimately their communities. Write2Market is proud to be C5 Georgia’s media partner as the program boasts outstanding successes such as their 98 percent college acceptance rate. One of the few things that impresses me more than the success rates of the program, however, are the inspiring individual stories of C5 Georgia students.
This morning Robert Farrar, C5 Georgia board member, my colleague, Melissa Grisham, and I had the pleasure of meeting C5 Georgia second-year student Leah Scott and her mother Angela in their Lithia Springs home. Donna Lowry of 11Alive and her camerawoman Kathy met us there and did a beautiful job interviewing the Scotts.
As Donna spoke with Leah and her mother, I caught myself tearing up, particularly when Ms. Scott spoke about adopting Leah, despite the financial challenges. She spoke about her perspective on the role she has in Leah’s life and said that her goal is simply to support Leah as she grows up to be the outstanding leader that she has already shown herself to be. Ms. Scott gave a tremendous tribute to the role that C5 Georgia has taken in Leah’s transformation. Ms. Scott also said that several of Leah’s teachers have commented on the difference they have seen in her this year and Leah herself said that she now finds herself raising her hand in class more and that if she does not know the answer to a question, she now takes the initiative to find the answer.
C5 Georgia should be proud of the tremendous work that they are doing to change the lives of these remarkable students, their families and our communities. When I called Ms. Scott yesterday to ask if we could invite Donna Lowry into her home this morning, I said that I realize that I was giving her short notice and that they must be quite busy as Leah’s packs up for camp, but Ms. Scott said “Oh, no. Not at all. Anything for C5!” Today she spoke off camera about how the board and staff treat each student as an individual, that they have each student’s best interest at heart, and that are always making the students top priority. C5 Georgia, your efforts are noticed and we at Write2Market know that 11Alive’s impending coverage will only amplify what we already know to be true. C5 Georgia is a leading non-profit organization healing our communities one young leader at a time.
To learn more about C5 Georgia visit their new website at c5georgia.org, like them on Facebook and watch for Leah’s story on 11Alive later this month!